Koushik Dutta, the author of ClockworkMod Recovery and such iconic Android apps as ROM Manager and, more recently, Carbon, has decided to tackle a new subject that is also very dear to the Android community - Superuser and root access control. Koush's latest app, now in beta and coming soon to the Play Store, is called simply ClockworkMod Superuser.

We've all had to deal with it at one point or another: a rogue app hiding out in the background, chomping away on the battery. Or perhaps a bunch of pre-installed junk is taking up all of your device's precious RAM. No matter how you slice it, unwanted background apps are a nuisance. Now, there are a number of ways to do away with these apps, but none of them are what we'd call "great." For example, you could freeze them with Titanium Backup Pro, but then you can't launch them without unfreezing, and that's a pain.

Over the past couple of weeks, there's been a bit of a kerfuffle surrounding HTC and its shut down of HTCRUU.com. The general consensus across the Android community has been quite understanding in some respects – after all, HTC has every right to protect its intellectual property. The problem was, however, that in the original takedown request, it also demanded that all hosted RUUs and Sense-based ROMs be indefinitely removed, as well.

Those of you in the habit of rooting and/or flashing custom ROMs are likely familiar with SuperSU, one of the most popular Superuser options available. Developer Chainfire has just released the long-awaited 1.0 version of both the standard and Pro apps to the Play Store. In addition to the usual bug fixes (many of which affect newer HTC devices), there's a bevy of new appearance customization in the app settings. You can choose between five different app icons (or none at all), three different Holo themes, or a manufacturer-friendly system default.

GMD, or Good Mood Droid, has been known to make some incredible – if relatively niche – apps (remember GestureControl?). Today, the developer is back with GMD Speed Time – an aptly-named tool for root users that will bring in your digital corn harvest faster than you can say "cheating device."

The app is incredibly simple – it speeds up your device's system clock, allowing you to cut the waiting time in farming (or other time-dependent games) with speeds anywhere from 2x up to 1000x normal.

Most college kids are at home this time of the year, celebrating the end of finals and/or nursing hangovers. But the ROM's scene's number one destination is hosting classes all year round at the the new XDA University site. XDA-Developers has been working on the extension of the main site as a destination for newcomers to the world of root, custom ROMs, and other Android modifications, as well as a place to learn about more serious Android development.

Just like subscribers to any other phone service provider, advanced users of the hybrid 3G/WiFi mobile virtual network Republic Wireless are eager to customize and modify their phones - probably more so, in fact. That's why we posted a rooting guide for the only Republic phone available, the Motorola Defy XT. But in a message to the Republic subscriber base, an employee clarified the company's position on rooting, custom ROMs and other modifications to the Android hardware it provides to its customers.

There's some disturbing news today on the Android security front: an vulnerability has been discovered for Samsung's Exynos 4-powered devices. While the related exploit is useful for the mod scene in that it can be harnessed to gain superuser permissions and root pretty much any device running on an Exynos 4 chip, it's also got some rather disturbing implications. According to an XDA member with the handle "alephzain", who developed the exploit, using this security hole can also grant an app access to all physical memory on a given device - basically, anything stored in RAM is fair game.

When the Droid DNA was first announced, we were all surprised to find that the bootloader was unlockable at HTCdev.com. Because of this, the device actually got root, recovery, and custom kernel days before the official release. Unfortunately, by the time the device became available in retail channels, Verizon pulled the plug and it was no longer unlocked through official means.

Thankfully, there's another way (isn't there always?). The softmod below will effectively change the carrier information, allowing it to once again be unlocked via HTC's official tool.